1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to the art of refrigerators and, more particularly, to a side-by-side refrigerator including laterally spaced fresh food and freezer compartments each having upper and lower storage sections of differing widths.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
In a conventional side-by-side refrigerator, freezer and fresh food compartment doors align along a vertically extending divider wall or mullion, with the mullion extending in a single plane essentially from the top to the bottom of the refrigerator. Although this style of refrigerator has certain advantages over top-mount refrigerators wherein the freezer compartment is arranged vertically above the fresh food compartment, certain disadvantages are also presented. For instance, since the opening provided in a household kitchen for both side-by-side and top-mount refrigerators is essentially standard, top-mount style refrigerators typically have wider shelves in each of the fresh food and freezer compartments as compared to the corresponding shelves in a side-by-side refrigerator.
For this reason, it is often difficult, if not impossible, to accommodate rather wide food items, such as trays, cake pans, platters, turkeys and the like, on a given shelf in the fresh food compartment of a side-by-side refrigerator, while the same item(s) could be readily placed on a corresponding shelf in a top-mount refrigerator. The same is true with respect to the width of the different freezer shelves. For example, it is often difficult to store frozen pizzas and other large food items widthwise in a side-by-side refrigerator freezer compartment, while such items can be easily arranged in the freezer compartment of a top-mount refrigerator. To compensate for this disadvantage, it is not uncommon for owners of side-by-side refrigerators to purchase a second refrigerator for additional food storage space.
Based on at least these reasons, there exists a need in the art for a side-by-side refrigerator which can still fit in a standard sized refrigerator opening, yet will accommodate wider food items than a conventional side-by-side refrigerator. More specifically, there exists a need for an improved side-by-side refrigerator having widened refrigerator and freezer storage compartment sections, as compared to a conventional side-by-side refrigerator, in order to enable somewhat wider food items to be readily accommodated within these compartments.